


Moving On With You

by TwilightMaster15



Series: Mock Execution Fails [3]
Category: Death Note (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Adventure, Bargaining, Dark Comedy, Forgiveness, Friendship/Love, Ghosts, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Light the Salty Ghost, M/M, Moving On
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-26
Updated: 2021-01-19
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:52:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,750
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22901959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwilightMaster15/pseuds/TwilightMaster15
Summary: The unimaginable had happened. L knew Kira was going to die—it was something he was fully aware of. But for Light to die of a heart attack, potentially at the hand of Kira but also maybe because of stress and an adrenaline spike during the mock execution, L finds himself needing to solve the Kira case without the first person he would consider an equal, his first friend, who may have been something more if things were different.But it turns out Light is now a ghost who is unable to move on until the real Kira is brought to justice. Being the only one who can see Light, and knowing that the moment Kira is caught, he will lose Light forever, L finds himself torn when faced with a difficult choice. Either he helps bring Light enough peace of mind to move on, or he can selfishly keep Light with him forever and try to make things right even if he knows Light would be miserable due to his unjust death and the price for staying in the living realm.Fanfiction of Ultimate Irony: Light dying of a heart attack unrelated to the Death Note.
Relationships: L/Yagami Light
Series: Mock Execution Fails [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1646050
Comments: 18
Kudos: 243





	1. Chapter 1

L watched through the camera as Misa screamed at Chief Yagami, who had told her and Light they were being led to their executions. Light had also pleaded and pointed out how insane that was for a moment before his eyes widened a little, and he leaned back in his seat, panting. 

L's brow furrowed, unsure of what Light was pulling now, but he had a feeling Light had seen through the whole thing and was now trying something to get himself and Misa out of this. But what was he trying to do? He might be having a panic attack, but whether that was fake or not, L couldn't tell through the poor quality cameras.

But he knew five minutes later that whatever had happened fooled the chief, who hesitated with the gun, "Light?" 

L leaned in closer to the camera and saw Light seemed to have passed out, and his eyes widened as he realized he couldn't tell if Light was breathing or not.

He heard screams from the other side of the camera, and saw Mr. Yagami jump out of the car, and then pull Light out as well. Misa was leaning forward, demanding to know what was going on and trying to figure out what had happened to Light.

L's blood ran cold when he heard a despaired scream from Mr. Yagami and heard him calling for someone to call an ambulance. What had Light done? But he did call an ambulance, not because he was worried about Light, but rather because he was curious about what the teenager was faking to scare his father so badly.

Part of his brain told him that what if Light wasn't faking. A couple options also popped up, and L felt genuine dread seep in when he heard Soichiro begging for Light to stay alive. He pressed the button to communicate, unable to wait in silence anymore, it was clear the mock execution wasn't happening.

"Mr. Yagami, I've called an ambulance. What has happened?"

"Light's not breathing! I've been trying CPR, but he won't wake up!"

Trying CPR didn't work... L's stomach dropped as he realized that Light wouldn't be able to remain in this state if he was faking since CPR would hurt badly. Whatever had caused Light to collapse, this was real.

"Chief, please calm down, panicking will do nothing to help Light. Does he have a heartbeat?"

"A—A faint one."

"Make sure his heart keeps beating, and see if anything is blocking his airway." He couldn't think of what that could possibly be, and he was sure that Light hadn't had access to anything, he hadn't bitten into a cyanide pill or something along those lines. Anyway, that theory was insane. If Light was willing to die, he would have done nothing against execution.

L heard when the ambulance arrived to take Light, and the detective ran out the door to head to the hospital, needing to know what had happened, and as his heart painfully clenched in fear, he pleaded to any God out there, for Light to survive.

But a mere half-hour later, he knew he was an atheist.

"I'm sorry," the doctor said softly to the task force, "We were too late to save him. We tried everything we could, but our attempts were futile."

L heard those words, but while everyone else instantly knew what that meant, he was stubborn and refused to accept the idea it was implying. "What—What happened?" He rasped out, "One minute he was fine..."

"It's hard to say for certain until the autopsy report comes in, but I can safely say the cause of death was a heart attack."

Those two words made L's eyes widen, echoing in his head. _Heart attack, heart attack, Light had a heart attack..._

Kira.

Just the idea made L nauseous. No... there was no way... unless Kira was a member of the task force, nobody could have known about Light being in confinement, right? If that was true... he doubted it was, there had to be another explanation, but that would mean he might as well have killed Light with his own hands.

Autopsy... Light was actually...

L's mind froze completely. Scratch that, his whole body froze, unable to do anything else but replay those horrific words in his head. Never had he thought that he'd hear such words from someone.

Never had he thought Light would die from a heart attack, Kira's trademark kill.

He barely noticed when a nurse kindly and carefully led him to a chair to sit down. He barely noticed the tears blurring his vision, spilling down his cheeks, he barely noticed the pitiful looks thrown his way from the people, he barely noticed the chief sobbing and the rest of the devastated task force trying to comfort him. He could only feel the hollow emptiness in his chest, as if a huge part of his heart, his _soul_ went missing, leaving nothing in its place.

Words were exchanged, and L dully heard himself say something, and the nurse led him to a room slowly, and before he walked inside, she gave him a comforting squeeze on his shoulder. He would've told her to back off and not touch him, but right now, he didn't have the heart to, he didn't have it in him, because his first-ever friend was dead, gone from this world, from his life, and he wasn't ever gonna come back.

It was only when the nurse left him alone did he release all the overwhelming emotions, letting a lone drop of salty tear spill down his cheek, his face crumpling as he slowly walked over to Light's dead body, a white cloth draped over him.

It felt like miles when, in reality, it was only a few steps, but he finally reached there. He pulled back the sheet and stared silently at his friend's face, drifting to his closed eyes, the same chocolate-colored eyes that would never open again— _ever_.

He sat on the edge of Light's deathbed, so close their hips were almost touching. He ignored the tears that spilled down his cheek, and he moved his hand slowly to grasp Light's cold one, and maybe a part of him expected a small squeeze—just perhaps, hoped that somehow, they were wrong, that Light didn't really die, that this really was just a trick and Light was a good actor. His fingers absently searched for a pulse in his wrist, searched for reassurance, a sign that Light was still alive.

Only to find none. No beating underneath the pulse-point, no rise or fall of his chest.

And he felt his whole world crash down around him as he realized again, fully this time, the slight bit of denial and hope in his heart washed away with the sea of despair.

His friend was gone—and never, ever coming back—no matter what.

This was what he asked for, isn't it? For Light to have died? He was insistent that Light was Kira, and Kira would be executed. And this was almost the same as it. He lost his friend forever.

A bitter smile stretched across his lips at the thought, feeling angry at himself as he remembered all the words he said to Light before, lying to him, scaring him.

The bitter smile slowly faded.

His mouth scrunched upward, more tears spilling down his cheek.

He wiped roughly at the tear-tracks making their way down his cheeks, biting his lip as he laid his other hand on top of his friend, leaning down to rest his forehead against Light's cold, pale one, so dead-cold. "You're still my friend, and I still loved you." He whispered softly to him. " …no matter what."

He swallowed thickly as he remembered their last conversation once again, his last words to Light, and he would never be able to change that past, regretting those words deeper than he did before. His friend died, thinking that he hated him, believing his own father would kill him, that he would be remembered as a murderer when it was clear now that he was nothing of the sort.

He pulled back, biting his lip, before pressing a soft kiss to his Light's so cold and pale fingers and resting his own forehead on the back of them.

"I'm so sorry, Light," he whispered softly. "I—I would do anything to take it all back."

OoOoO

L wouldn't get out of bed for days after the autopsy report came in, and he wasn't sure how to feel, still trying to wrap his head around what he had read, and the fact that _Light was dead_. It seemed that—that Light's heart attack hadn't been Kira related, or if it had been, Kira had picked the person most likely to have a heart attack naturally.

Much like Light's father, his heart attack had been caused by constant stress, only Light's was much more severe to the point the spike of adrenaline when being told he was being led to his execution was the final straw. It didn't help that he had been malnourished, somewhat feverish, and exhausted far beyond what was healthy. 

L remembered noticing all those things in Light, and never once questioning if what he was doing was worthy of stopping. He had known it was wrong, but he was so sure that Light was Kira that it shouldn't matter, right? But it did matter because if he had listened to the task force, Light might have still been alive.

Actually, it was because of this that the task force wondered, not for the first time—the first time had been when there were dozens of people on the case and not just a handful—if L himself was Kira, and had killed Light. But L had pointed out that if he was going to be throwing Light under the bus, he would have killed the chief to frame Light absolutely. That had seemed to satisfy their doubts about him being the mass murderer, and meanwhile, L had become increasingly suspicious of the task force. If one of them was Kira, and they had killed Light to divide the team and lower L's deductive abilities, it had been a brilliant plan.

Mr. Yagami had left the task force, and L didn't blame him. Having essentially watched his son die had been hard on him, and the hand L had played in it, whether Kira was the culprit or not. The rest of the task force was still there, but it was clear they didn't trust L and probably wouldn't follow his orders anymore. Misa was on her own floor, and she had tried to kill herself four times at the moment, saying living without Light was too unbearable. Seeing the girl was unstable and Light had been her rock of the sort, L had brought in a therapist to handle her issues. He couldn't have her dying too.

L looked to the bed which he and Light would have been sharing if everything had gone according to plan if he had just told Light the truth about criminals still dying—maybe then he wouldn't have had as much strain on his heart, and he wouldn't be gone.

He heard footsteps and assumed it was Watari. His adopted father had only seen him like this once, years ago when A died, and L learned he was the indirect cause of his suicide. He had cried for a day, been catatonic for a couple more days, and then went back to his regular routine as though nothing had happened, even though he remembered, and the guilt still weighed on him. 

L knew, give it a couple more days, he would be able to lock up his grief and focus on the investigation. Then he sighed, knowing he had been telling himself that for the last two days, would try to work, be reminded of Light, and find himself wallowing and eating on the bed with zero motivation to do anything. He was terrified that the next suspect would be wrong too and would pay the price for L's mistakes, just as Light had.

"Ryuzaki, what are you doing? Don't you plan to catch Kira?"

That voice...

L looked up and found himself face to face with Light Yagami.


	2. Chapter 2

"Li—Light...!" L stammered, and a very angry Light Yagami was still staring at him when he should be six feet under, miles away. Now, L knew Kira was supernatural, so he couldn't ignore the possibility Light was undead, but the last thing he wanted to deal with was a zombie of his friend. He'd read _Pet Semetery_ , and that was one of many examples showing zombies never ended well for the majority of parties involved.

But... Light didn't look like a zombie. It was then that L noticed he had a faint but still weird glow to him, and there were blink-and-you-miss-it moments he was semi-transparent. Either this was a sick joke from someone, or was Light a ghost?

Light put his hands on his hips in quite the sassy fashion, "Come on, answer me!"

"I find myself unmotivated to catch Kira," L replied bluntly and instantly knew that this was actually Light as his eyes turned red, and a vase exploded in the corner.

"I'm sorry," Light said dangerously, "My hearing must have gone like my heart did, but it really sounds like you just said you were unmotivated to catch Kira, which would mean my death was meaningless!"

"Light-Kun, are you really here?" L asked, not answering the question, "If this is really you, you should be six feet under, not here having a conversation with me."

Light softened, but only a little, no longer looking like a poltergeist but making it clear he wasn't happy. "It's my watch." He gestured to his watch, which L had taken off his body as something to remember him by, "My soul is tied to the watch, and that's why you can see me. Unfortunately, according to my guide, if you break it, I will become a poltergeist and haunt you, unable to move on." 

"Guide? So you are a ghost?"

"Yes, that seems to be the case," Light stuck his hand straight through L's chest, and while there was a slight tensing in the places Light was, it didn't feel as though somebody was touching him, "And from what I've gathered, the only way for me to move on is to accomplish the thing I never could in life—catch Kira."

L paused, trying to wrap his mind around the fact ghosts actually existed, "So you're saying you're trapped in limbo until you move on?" 

"That seems to be the case." He glared, "Because I would rather not be remembered after death as a murderer, something I'm _not_."

"I know you're not, Light." L looked away, and he started wondering, "So you're here until Kira is captured, and only those who wear the watch can see you?"

"Yes! How many times do I have to say it?! So what the hell are you doing in here, moping?"

"I'm sorry if the death of my first friend is distressing and leaves me unmotivated."

"This coming from the guy who gave me a literal heart attack!" Light snapped, scoffing, and L flinched, knowing it was true but not wanting to admit that fact to himself. He looked down at the watch,

"But what if the next suspect is innocent too, and get accused of something that's not true?" 

"Don't psychologically torture them then while you investigate!" Light roared, and his eyes turned red, and his skin became hauntingly paler, eyes becoming sunken until for a moment he really did look undead. Then he noticed the genuine fear in L's eyes and forced himself to calm down, "As you can see, I need to move on."

L shook his head, "How do I know this isn't a strange nightmare."

"You don't, but would it kill you to help your 'first friend' to find peace?"

"I suppose you're right," L replied, wondering if maybe there was a way to bring him back. But L knew that Light's corpse was decayed to the point there would be no returning to that. Just the idea of his friend's body rotted away made him nauseous, and he debated running to the bathroom.

Light stared at him, "So, are you going to get downstairs to solve this case?"

"Light-Kun, it's not that simple. Ever since you died, the task force doesn't really work with me, blaming me for your death." L put his hands in his pockets, and he heard Light swearing under his... breath? Do ghosts breathe? Now that he was looking, it seemed Light _did_ breathe, but probably more out of instinct than anything else. He started pacing, walking through the table, then he realized what he had done and moaned loudly.

"Oh, come on! I thought I was better at this now!"

"Huh?" Light turned,

"I've been here since I died and have been trying to figure out how to be visible and tangible at the same time—it's surprisingly hard. Only now was I able to maintain both for long enough that I don't fall through the floor. But because only you can see me and I can't leave very far from you, I needed to pull you downstairs."

L found himself fascinated by the aspect of Light being a ghost. To test it, he took off the watch, and Light vanished. If this was a hologram, then Light would have made it, probably as a giant middle finger to whoever wore this after death. But L actually found himself doubting Light would do that.

He still wanted to grieve in bed alone, but Light was here, so what exactly was he grieving for? But now he knew that if he defeated Kira, he would lose Light again, and if the last two weeks had shown anything, he detested not having his friend around. However, he suspected that if he let Kira run free so Light was trapped here, Light would never forgive him, and he was already undoubtedly furious about his death so young.

Walking downstairs, L checked to see if Light was following, and saw that after about two steps, Light had given up on going downstairs like a living person and took to floating next to L, hovering about ten centimeters above the ground. Then he started laying flat on his back and still moving, and L could already tell that flying was the one thing about being a ghost that Light enjoyed.

Matsuda turned, "Ryuzaki, you're up." The young officer's brow furrowed, "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"That's because I have seen a ghost." L replied bluntly, "Apparently, Light haunts us until Kira is brought to justice." He said this so calmly, in his usual monotone voice, as though this was just the same shit as always, so it took the task force a moment to process what L had said.

"Ryuzaki," Aizawa asked, "How much sleep have you gotten?"

"Not much, but that doesn't matter at the moment." He sat down, still feeling depressed and unmotivated, but he also still had the image of Light as an angry ghost behind his eyelids.

Mogi blinked a couple times, and Matsuda looked quizzically,

"Alright, if Light's here, you need to prove it." Matsuda put his hands behind his back, "How many fingers am I holding up?" L looked bored, then saw Light was behind Matsuda and was holding up three fingers. L did the same and the task force, who had also been behind Matsuda to know how this worked out, gaped.

"That might have been a coincidence." Mogi said, "Let's try a couple more rounds."

This went on for about five minutes, until L drank some coffee, "Are you satisfied now?"

Matsuda beamed, "Where is he right now?"

"Floating above you." L replied, "Before you ask, only I can see him since I own the object his soul got trapped in. Breaking it causes a poltergeist." He wondered why he was so calm about this, then decided that maybe it was the fact he hadn't slept in weeks. At least this test with the task force proved he wasn't hallucinating.

"We gotta tell the chief!" Matsuda said, but Aizawa stopped him,

"Matsuda, do you really want to tell the chief that Light is so miserable that he's in limbo until we avenge his unjust death, then he vanishes forever?"

"Oh... when you put it that way..." Matsuda lowered the phone, "I just thought maybe he would want some closure, a chance to say goodbye."

"You know," Light crossed his arms, "This floating thing is more pleasant than trying to walk, but I'm tired of being just Casper the friendly ghost." He flew over to the computer, pressing buttons until the laptop screamed and started crashing. Everyone turned in the direction of it, and L wondered if Light would be able to communicate with the others if he was given a notepad and a pen.

"That is creepy." Mogi was the first to say, looking at the computer which Light had accidentally destroyed. L called Watari,

"Watari, we have an unexpected paranormal visitor. I request as many books on ghosts as possible." 

_"Ryuzaki, are you okay?"_

"Not in the slightest." 


	3. Chapter 3

"So, where's Dad?" Light asked with the Oujia board. L was the one who did all the translating of what the ghost said, but sometimes L would choose to ignore him, and Light would start haunting the lighting or one time he got into the speakers and started blaring Thomas the Train music with the sole purpose of ruining everyone's day.

Needless to say, having a bitter ghost around was something the novelty wore off of really quickly. Matsuda had taken to trying to find alternatives so they could all communicate with Light instead of having Mogi on Ouija Board duty.

Also, Light couldn't do much more than boss them all around since he was banned from using technology. They had gone through eighteen computers this way because if he got irritated, he broke it, or sometimes he phased through it, and the laptop flipped out.

"Mr. Yagami quit the case." At this point, the task force had stopped questioning if L randomly started talking, because he was the only one who could speak with Light continually. Matsuda had tried to steal the watch, only for the dreaded music to start playing. L wasn't sure if this was just a Matsuda-training technique or if Light actually wanted to kill them all from getting the shit scared out of them.

Well, he was a ghost, so that would make sense. And wouldn't that be a twist if Light wasn't actually here to catch Kira, but his real way to move on was to murder everyone who played a part in his death—oh shit, Light might be seriously trying to do that.

L shook himself. No, Light wasn't Kira, so he would have no reason to do that. He wasn't going to turn around and go full poltergeist on them when Kira was dead. He still wondered about Light's "guide," though, since it had been mentioned when Matsuda or Aizawa wanted to know what being a ghost was like.

"Why did Dad quit the case?" Light asked, "Wouldn't he know that I'd want the case solved even if I'm dead?"

"I think it's because he hates me." L replied, not actually knowing what the exact reason was. Maybe he felt guilt or even trauma, having not realized that Light was having a heart attack when he had suddenly gone silent. L still remembered vomiting when he had read in the autopsy report that Light would have survived if he had gotten to the hospital ten minutes earlier. If the chief had seen Light pass out and instantly went to the hospital instead, Light would still be here in the flesh and not as a ghost who was so miserable that he wasn't accepted into whatever afterlife there was. And at this point, L was pretty sure there was an afterlife since where else would Light be trying to "move on" to?

"Maybe the chief would return to the case if he knew Light needed help?" Matsuda offered, having read the note Mogi translated from the Oujia board.

"And what's next, we tell Misa about it?" Aizawa snapped, "She's tried to off herself five times now, and we know that if she finds out Light's soul is tied to the watch, she'll steal it, and Light will never get to move on." Light frowned,

"She's done that..."

"She doesn't want to live in a world without you, Light."

"Well, seeing as she bought my information, came to my house, and told me to make her my girlfriend. Clearly, she sees something in me. I think it's lust. I don't remember it all too well, but I recall feeling threatened by her like maybe she was going to hurt me if I didn't obey."

And L's dislike of Misa turned into full-blown detest. There was no way she actually loved Light if she had stalked him and potentially threatened him. Maybe she had deluded herself into thinking she had, but that was wrong.

Matsuda decided to try seeing if salt circles could really keep Light contained. Light responded to this by making the hamster dance play on every speaker in the building.

"Light-Kun, why are you doing this? I do not believe killing us all slowly with your sister's music is going to assist you in moving on."

"On the contrary," Light replied, "I'm currently practicing my control over electronics so I can use computers without breaking them. And I want to see the limit to my ghost powers so I can haunt all the Kira suspects and find info." 

"But didn't you say you can only leave a short distance of me?" 

"According to my guide, I can leave a maximum of fourteen kilometers from you for short periods." L stood up, noticing the resources he had been examining before were leading him nowhere,

"That guide of yours, tell me about them. You've spoken about your guide multiple times, what's the purpose of it?"

Light put a finger under his chin, taking a bite of L's cake, only for him to accidentally become intangible, so the piece fell straight through him and onto the floor.

"His name is Ryuk. When I woke up here, he started laughing and said it looked like my plan failed. I'm not sure what that means, but I assume it was the plan for confinement to clear my name, and then I could live a successful life as a detective—or _live_ in general. He's taught me the basics of being a ghost and how to move on."

"So is Ryuk another ghost?" L looked through some books on supernatural spirits, having read about guides often being other spirits.

"He said he's not, so I would assume he's a Shinigami. God of Death, and butt-ugly." That made L tense, and he wondered how many of the people Kira had killed were floating around as ghosts. The thought crossed his mind that perhaps if Kira had gotten to Naomi, she would be a ghost trapped in limbo too. It made sense, though, for a God of Death to be the one to guide a wayward soul.

L bit his thumb. They were making no progress in this case, even when they weren't distracted by Light practicing his ghost powers. But L found himself actually happy when he and Light were having a conversation late at night before the "you basically killed me" topic came up again.

And that was why he found himself in secret looking at resurrection rituals. There was one that sounded interesting but also like bullshit, about a wax effigy of the person having the soul transferred to it and becoming a real body. Most of these "spells" required a body, and L was pretty sure he was actually going to throw up if he dug up Light's decaying corpse, since his skin was probably starting to fall off and fungus in his mouth.

He wanted Light back permanently, without his only goal being to move on. If L decided to catch Kira but let him off the hook, or simply not locate the killer at all, would Light stay? Yes, he would, but he would also detest L forever.

What he needed to do was send an anonymous message to the ICPO to spare Kira, that way when they got the alert of "oh no, Kira's not going to be executed" he would be rendered blameless in Light's eyes for what had happened, but he would still stay.

That was selfish, and he knew it, and the fact he would be knowingly damning his friend to stay here in the misery of an unjust death that made him hesitate to try. Still, he wasn't the type to give up. He was going to get Light back.

OoOoO

Light decided to practice if he could fly around outside the building as long as he stayed close to Ryuzaki's side. He had tried to steal the watch off the detective in his rare moments of sleep, to take it to his father—because he wanted to see his family and let his father know Light's death wasn't his fault. But then the watch had released an electric shock of the sort, and Light realized he couldn't touch it. He was trapped with whoever had the watch.

He struggled when the elements were against him, but the rendered himself intangible, and that made things easier. He heard Ryuk's laughter,

"I see you're getting the hang of it."

"Slowly." Light looked down at the city of Japan, "I miss being able to walk around and go to stores and talk to people. Ryuzaki controls who I speak to because he can ignore me. And I can't leave far from him for longer than a half-hour." He looked to his guide, "Ryuk, what happens after I move on?"

"Well, you _were_ going to go to the Shinigami realm, my realm, after death. But then some unforeseen circumstances passed, and now you would go to MU like the rest of the humans. From what I gather, it's either nothingness or land of the dead like some cultures believe."

"Why was I going to go to the Shinigami realm?" He also took note of the fact he had been right about what Ryuk was.

"Things are agonizingly boring in the Shinigami realm, and you would have spiced it up. But then it became clear you belong with other humans."

"What I do know is I don't belong here." Light looked down at the people, so blissfully unaware, "My time on Earth has passed."

"I always find that the spirits who spend time as a ghost are more ready to pass on than those who didn't." Ryuk said, "But never has one been so eager to go."

"If I had lived, I would have had my freedom taken away until the case was solved. Maybe Ryuzaki would have killed me anyway. That's not a life worth living. And it's not like I can be brought back, even though I know Ryuzaki has been looking at rituals. I might as well accept it."

"I never thought I would hear that from you," Ryuk said, "Humans are so interesting."


	4. Chapter 4

"I want to see Dad." Light announced that day while working on the case, flying around the room once he got his point across on the Oujia Board. L looked up at him as he glided around, 

"And why have you shown such interest in seeing your father, Light-Kun?" L asked dryly, and Light stared at him upside down,

"Because I know my father's had some suicidal thoughts over the years, and I'm afraid he's gonna do it. Mom and Sayu already lost me, and while nobody would actually miss _me_ , I know they would mourn Dad. And perhaps I want to get on with the closure so I can move on as fast as possible."

L was so taken aback by the depressing comments Light made so casually it was almost eerie like he had grown wholly detached from what he was saying. And his expression held no emotion whatsoever, but after a second frustration could be seen. It honestly creeped him out, those moments when Light made it very clear he was no longer human, and such concepts mortals believed were nothing to him. He said that nobody would miss him, and no matter how untrue that was, he still stated it so monotone like it was a fact he had long since accepted.

"Light-Kun," there was so much he wanted to say, that _he_ missed Light, and knowing that while his friend was here now, he would need to move on, was weighing him down immensely. "Okay." That was all he could bring himself to say, "I will retrieve your father so you can talk to him." 

"Ryuzaki, are you sure that's a good idea?" Aizawa asked, "The watch—"

"I can lie and say I need to be with Ryuzaki most of the time." Light replied via Oujia Board, "That way, Misa can't steal the watch permanently if she finds out."

"I suppose that's one perk, but doesn't it seem cruel to give him hope of seeing Light again, only to rip that away?" Matsuda asked, and L crossed his arms,

"Perhaps it would be better for the chief if he knows he can help bring his son peace and say goodbye properly." L looked away, "Your father is still staying at the hotel. Shall we head over there?" Light nodded eagerly, following L out the door of headquarters, exploring the area and flying through the city, the pull to the watch binding him to the human world, showing him where L was.

"Lawliet," L looked and saw Watari was talking from where he was driving, "Forgive me for butting in on your private business, but I am worried about you. You've been growing attached to him."

"He's my friend. Forgive me if I don't want to let him go." He sighed, "But as each day passes, I fear he is losing his humanity. It's frightening. Am I paranoid, or is he really slowly becoming more a spirit than a person?" 

"I cannot say, as I do not hear Light-San as you do. However, that doesn't change the fact I am increasingly worried about your mental health, and the lengths you have shown intrigue in going to reunite with him." L tensed, before remembering the cameras would have seen the parts of various books he had shown interest in.

"I'm going to be okay, Quillish. It's just unfair how short his life was, and how ready he is to leave." _Is there a way to entice him to stay of his own will?_

They made it to the hotel, and Light was waiting for them, talking to someone L couldn't see. 

"Who are you talking to, Light-Kun?" Light looked to L,

"I'm talking to Ryuk." Ah, the spirit guide. L brightened a bit because he wanted to ask the spirit guide if there was a definite way to bring Light back to life.

"Well, there is something I would like to ask Ryuk while you and your father talk if that's alright." Light frowned a bit,

"Uh... sure?" They went inside, and L was shocked to see the alcohol bottles unceremoniously scattered about, and the chief sleeping on the couch, dark bags under his eyes and his hair a mess. He shook Mr. Yagami awake, and thankfully the older man didn't seem to be drunk or hungover at the moment.

"Oh, Ryuzaki," he looked around, "I didn't know you were coming."

"Neither did I. But there's something I need to show you." He took off the watch, leaving the room with the Oujia Board to talk to Ryuk, and Light appeared before his father.

...

For weeks now, Soichiro Yagami's every waking and sleeping moment had been tormented with memories of his beautiful and kind-hearted son, laying dead in the car, as his father had let him slip away. Had Light tried to call for help? He didn't know, but that had haunted his nightmares, images of his child weakly trying to get out, "Help me, please, Dad," as he slowly left the realm of the living.

But now Ryuzaki had come in for some unexplained reason, and now he found himself face to face with his son, who had an angelic look to him and a small smile on his heartbreakingly young face.

"Li-Light?" He looked down at the watch, which momentarily glowed before the aura faded, but Light still looked like an angel from the stories, sent from above. But Soichiro knew he was going to hell, so why would his precious boy's angel come down to see his killer?

Light's smile grew somber, "Hello, Dad. Before you ask, no, I am not an angel, nor am I here to collect your soul. I am a spirit, no more, and no less."

A ghost? How was that... "What do you mean?"

Light floated over to the couch, sitting on it as though he was living, "I need your help, Dad. After I died, my soul got tied to the watch, and to L. I have to stay with him most of the time, but I cannot find peace to move on until my death is avenged." 

Soichiro's eyes widened, seeing no hints of trickery. How was he supposed to avenge Light's death? He reached for his gun, but felt Light's hand on his, stopping him,

"You shouldn't blame yourself, Dad. I don't blame you. It's not your fault."

"It was! Light! I did nothing and you _—_ "

"I know. I understand. It was an accident. And you were only trying to do what you thought right. I forgive you," the ghost of Light insisted. 

It rang hollow. 

As did this beautiful image of his son—there was an air of unreality to it. There was something deceptive about this, or maybe he just didn't want to believe that Light was so tormented that he couldn't even find peace in death. 

"But—Light!" Hot burning tears spilled down his cheeks, which Light brushed away with his finger,

"Please don't cry, Dad. I'm just…" He bowed his head, "I'm sorry… Dad. I never really fit into that life or what you wanted for me. I need you now, to defeat Kira—even if he didn't kill me, he is the reason. When Kira is brought to justice, I will find peace, as that is the one thing I couldn't do in life, which I desired more than anything."

"Light…" Soichiro swallowed, feeling grief unlike any other, but at the same time pride, if Light was still here because his greatest desire was to ensure justice prevailed. "I will help you find peace." He wouldn't deny he wanted to keep Light with him, so they could go back to being a family, but he remembered what Light had said about being connected to Ryuzaki, so he likely had to give the watch back soon.

"Oh, and Dad? They need you, you know. _Sayu_ needs you." 

Soichiro cringed. He hadn't even thought of what it would do to Sayu if he pulled the trigger. He hadn't thought of much of _anything_ other than… after what he'd done, it was what he deserved. 

"I'm sorry, Light," he whispered again, "I love you, and I should have seen you struggling before it was too late and—" he felt a finger on his lips,

"Don't apologize. Clean yourself up, and I'll see what Ryuzaki is doing."

"Okay," he nodded to himself, realizing he looked like a wreck, and his dead son was currently looking a little judgemental. But what did Light expect from his guilt-stricken father? "Okay."

Meanwhile

L sat on the floor with the Oujia Board, "Ryuk, you're Light's spirit guide?"

"YES." Was the response.

"Are you a Shinigami?"

"M-A-Y-B-E." Ah, so the answer had a 90% chance of being yes. 

He then sucked in a breath, eager for the answer to this next question, as it would determine his next course of action, "As it stands, is there a way to bring Light back?"

No response for a moment, and slowly the triangle moved over an answer that made L's heart leap:

"YES."

"Tell me," He demanded, "Tell me how to do it!" 

"NO."

L wanted to be angry, but he was only disappointed to not get an answer as to exactly how. Ryuk might have been lying to him about there being a method, but that didn't change the fact he didn't want to believe that, and thus he wouldn't, clinging to that "YES" like a lifeline, determined to make it happen, and Light would come back.

But then he heard noises and saw the triangle moving again,

"N-O-T-Y-E-T."

L grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

L watched Light flying around the headquarters, as something peculiar had happened today. Soichiro had asked for the watch so he could talk to Light, and L reluctantly agreed. However, he could still see Light, and nobody else could. Ryuk had laughed, and no explanation was provided, at least according to Light. Perhaps it was just because he wore the watch the most often.

However, that didn't change the fact that Light was stuck near whoever had the watch, so Light would have to go with him if Soichiro were to leave. But the former Chief—he had quit the NPA after his son's death, saying he couldn't be a defender of justice if he hadn't been able to save his only child—hadn't tried that. He was content to let Light stay here and work on the case. Of course, that didn't mean at all that Soichiro was okay with the fact that he had to say goodbye to Light forever when Kira was brought to justice.

Light spent most of his time these days flying, but it clearly wasn't fun. He was getting restless and wanted to do something, but his irritation led to many broken computers.

Matsuda was the one to offer an idea, "Hey, I'm still Misa-Misa's manager. I could take the watch, so Light can go outside." Light brightened, flying down,

"That sounds like fun!"

"Are we sure it's safe?" Soichiro asked, looking down at the watch attaching his son to this world, "If Amane finds out, she may try to steal the watch and who knows what would happen then." 

"Agreed," L mused, "But Light-Kun is very restless."

Light nodded, "Yeah, but can you please look at the Yotsuba lead?" He had found that lead one of the times he had gotten his hands on a computer and hadn't broken it until L had seen the information. L nodded, and Soichiro took off the watch, giving it to Matsuda,

"Take care of him, Matsuda,"

"Dad, I'm not a child," Light crossed his arms, and L sighed, deciding not to comment on the fact that in Japanese customs, Light actually was a child. L himself had always seen Light as an adult since he would be in England, but that didn't change the fact that Light was literally dead.

Matsuda took the watch, for the first time seeing Light, "Woah! That's cool!"

"Can we go now?" Light asked, trying to tug Matsuda along, gaining tangibility to pull him. L chuckled a bit despite himself and watched the two go, but he could feel Light's absence weighing down on him the moment he was gone.

He was just guilty, he tried to tell himself, but as each day passed, he grew more focused on bringing Light back than actually bringing Light peace and letting him move on. Ryuk had said there was a way, and he wanted to know what it was.

But what if Light didn't want to come back? 

That thought had kept him up since he had even considered bringing him back. It would be pointless if Light didn't want to, because even if L did succeed, Light still wouldn't be living. What had happened to him wasn't fair, and hindsight had shown him that he had gone too far tormenting Light. What would Light be like if he had survived?

If Light didn't want to come back, did L have any choice but to respect that and help him move on?

Part of him hoped there was another option.

OoOoO

Light observed Misa acting badly for this movie and refusing to give any form of chemistry because she wanted to stay loyal to her beloved, even if he wasn't alive anymore. He cringed as she cried yet again. He had known she was torn up about his death, but he honestly had no idea what she saw in him that wasn't superficial. He hadn't taken the time to know her or anything, and all he remembered about her was the creepy stalker who threatened to kill anyone he was dating that wasn't her.

Maybe he should feel bad for her, but he just didn't, no matter how hard he tried to muster up anything. He didn't want her to kill herself like she had apparently tried, and he knew that moving on wasn't overnight, but couldn't she just get over it already? It already stung enough that the last faces he had seen while alive were hers and his father holding a gun to his head.

Matsuda jumped a bit, putting his phone to his ear to give the impression of being on the phone, "Light, you okay? You flickered?" Light cocked his head,

"Flickered? Did I go invisible?"

"No, you looked different for a second. I can't really explain it since it was only for a second. Maybe I just imagined things."

Light looked down at his hands, and Ryuk laughed, "Thinking about your death again?"

"Yeah, so?" Ryuk only laughed in response, and Light sat in a tree, watching as Misa shoved away her costar yet again. Part of him wanted to talk to her just to tell her to please move on. She'd likely interpret it as his love for her, and honestly, that was fine if she got on with her life, and he could spend his afterlife in peace.

If he had an afterlife.

The idea of there being nothing after death frightened him more than he would ever admit, even if he knew that fear was irrational. What did it matter? This would have happened whether he was alive or not, and he was ready for it.

But was he? The only reason he was so eager to move on was the constant pain of his unjust death and being avenged. He knew he didn't belong here, he wasn't alive anymore, and being a ghost caught in between was a miserable experience.

Light laughed hollowly. He remembered thinking that flying would be awesome, but now that he could do it whenever he wanted to and had all sorts of powers, the price proved to not be worth it, and he wanted nothing more than to be a normal kid again.

If he could choose between restarting the last year or moving on, he would choose the former, and maybe he could change things to keep living a happy life or have some closure with his mother and sister without having to see them in pain. He didn't want to be the reason his family fell apart, and he didn't want to be the final straw that made his father go through with the suicidal thoughts he had been having even before Light was born.

And what about L? He wanted to hate L for what happened, but as time had gone by, he could tell that the detective hadn't meant to harm him if he was innocent. Looking back, the evidence had been pretty damning, even if it was circumstantial. Whether Misa was or had been the Second Kira or not was unclear, but the point still stood. Fifty-three days was excessive, and the mock execution was cruel, but could Light really blame L for his death? Ryuk had explained the concept of lifespans and how it could change for some humans when someone with Kira's power appeared. His lifespan had changed, and he had been meant to die July 23rd. Nothing would have altered that fact.

He shook himself. There was no point in thinking about what might have been or what would happen when he was gone. That was out of his hands. He was here to bring Kira to justice and move on, that was all. 

Matsuda came over to Light's tree, "I want to go investigate Yotsuba on my own."

Normally he would say that no, that was a terrible idea, but right now he found that he wanted to do that. It wasn't like there would be any consequences, and he could tell Matsuda was going to do this anyway and was more giving him a heads up than anything else. He floated down from the tree, 

"Let's go."

They both took off, finding the back route into the building quickly. Overall, it was alarmingly easy to get into the building, and while Light broke the security cameras for good measure, it seemed rather pointless.

He went ahead slightly, hearing a group of men talking about a meeting that would be happening, and Light looked to Matsuda, "We should look into that." Matsuda ran to the elevator, but then hesitated, looking to Light,

"We should take the stairs since we don't want to risk you breaking it."

"Good point and I'll listen in on the meeting. You wait for me."

Light had no problem going up the stairs, flying around with Ryuk, and seeing what there was to see. Ryuk went in search of apples, and Light phased through the door, horrified by what he heard when he went inside.

Eight businessmen discussing who they were going to kill this week, and very casual about the whole thing honestly.

Kira was... among businessmen?!

Anger supercharged everything in his being as he fought the urge to go down there and find a way to slaughter them all without mercy, killing countless people for selfish material gain! He thought he could at least partially understand Kira trying to make a better world, but the idea of that being all a lie was infuriating.

These corrupt men were what led to his death?!

He listened in, taking in all this information until he was unsure if he could control his anger anymore. The last thing he needed was to turn into a poltergeist, even if he did want nothing more than to haunt every single one of them until they went mad and maybe—

What—What the hell was wrong with him?! He had to get out of here before he snapped.

He hurried out to Matsuda, "Matsuda, we have to go. We've got plenty of info, but you will be killed if we stay any longer."

"Okay," Matsuda agreed, and Light found Ryuk waiting for them by the elevator, and they all hurried out of the building and down the stairs, unaware something else had happened when Light was in the meeting room.

...

Rem couldn't believe what she had just seen, of Light Yagami as a ghost observing the meeting. When had he died?! His lifespan wasn't supposed to allow that for years! Well, she figured, lifespans changed when the Death Note got involved, but when had such a jump happened? How did he die?!

This meant his plan as Kira was completely destroyed if he was dead now, so what the hell was she supposed to do now? Did she kill Higuchi and leave?

Dread filled her. Misa! If Light Yagami was dead, what about Misa? Was she still alive? Even if she was, Light Yagami was vital for her to live, so was she even okay if he was gone?!

She took off without warning, quickly spotting Ryuk, who must have gotten the task of being Light Yagami's spirit guide, "Ryuk!" 

Ryuk saw her and flew up, and they both observed the running human and ghost, "Hey, Rem," he looked down at Light, "Yeah... looks like the plan didn't go well." 

"What happened?" She demanded, and Ryuk sent her a deadpan look,

"What do you think happened?" Rem cringed as the reality of the situation really sunk in,

"What about Misa? Did she perish too? Did L kill her?"

"Nah, she's alive. Tried to kill herself a couple times to be with Light again," Ryuk rolled his eyes, "Not that it really matters. She's got enough lifespan that she never succeeds."

Misa had tried to... Rem felt panic. This wasn't right at all! Light Yagami's plan was supposed to succeed, and after spending time with Higuchi, she had realized that while she hadn't approved of the boy before, he may be as pure-hearted as Misa. This just—

She didn't know what to do anymore, as humans were strange creatures that didn't often make sense. But she knew she had to do something about this, and she had to do it fast.


	6. Chapter 6

Light smirked as he took L's king, "I win."

L chuckled a little bit, "It looks like we're at a tie again of ten and ten, Light-Kun. Five more rounds."

"Seven,"

"Alright then," this was what they often did at night since, unlike the ghost and insomniac, everyone else actually needed sleep. Light found that the more they did this, something he could forget about the nagging in his head of his father's final words to him when he was alive, which echoed in his mind in an incessant loop intent on driving him mad.

The longer Light thought about his death, the more he slowly managed to look at everything logically, and his emotions on the matter faded. Looking at the evidence, it made sense for Light to be confined to see if it was circumstantial or not. The mock execution had been harsh, but he understood the purpose of that test—because if he did have that power, he would have never killed his father intentionally, but who knew if it would lash out on a subconscious level.

L was contemplating his next move, and Light smirked, going intangible and sticking his hand directly in L's chest and poked one of his organs, making him yelp, "Ah!" he laughed a bit, "Light-Kun!" 

Light's smirk grew wider, a terrible idea forming as he phased through the chessboard and lunged at L, straddling him, and instead of phasing through L's body again, he instead made it so only his lower hand, and his hands were tangible, which he had been practicing.

L was completely still, eyes wide like a deer in the headlights. It was something Light had discovered while playing around, that the great detective was extremely ticklish, and what can you do against an enemy who can be intangible at will?

Light couldn't help but grin. The look on L's face was just too funny. While it was normally bored and subtly confident, he had been emoting a lot more recently since Light's death, and right now, that expression was best described as "oh shit!"

While he knew he had every right to, Light bore little ill will towards L anymore, just wanting Kira over and done so he could move on. According to Ryuk, forgiving Ryuzaki was an important step in the moving on process. Regardless of what he told L, it wasn't that he would move when Kira was dead. That was just one thing on a checklist.

However, while he accepted what had happened, forgiveness was still a strong word. It was weird, so he settled on doing this, leaving L as helpless as Light himself had felt, unable to stop anything that was happening, losing control over everything, except not in a traumatic way.

With an evil chuckle, Light lifted L's shirt. He then moved the garment away from L's body as much as he could with L's hands pinned. In less than thirty seconds, most of L's smooth chest and stomach were bare, and just beggingto be tickled… well, at least to Light.

Light put a finger on either side of L's side and traced them, up and down. L broke immediately into giggles, his surprisingly innocent laughter filling the room. 

As Light moved to L's stomach, he had to wonder what the cameras were making of this, because to an observer with no context, Ryuzaki was just spasming on the floor. Even with his fingers just lightly tracing his skin, L's giggles turned into really heavy giggles and laughter, revealing his stomach was very ticklish.

Light was enjoying himself immensely. Nothing about L's attitude show he was even a little ticklish, much less mind-blowingly ticklish.

Still just teasing, Light grazed his fingers all over—the waistband of L's pants, his ribs, and his neck.

On his neck, L let out a short, girlish squeal, before bursting out into higher-pitched giggles.

Light didn't even fight the urge to step up the game. To start, he put his hands on L's hips and dug into the soft pockets.

L's eyes flew open, he bucked high into the air, and he let out another high pitched squeal.

Feeling giddy, Light started to poke all over L's torso, causing him to let out a variation of yells along the lines of "Ah!", "Eek!", "Argh!" or "Gah!" all the while laughing loudly and writhing around like a grounded fish.

Having pity, Light allowed L a breather, and Ryuzaki sat up, trying to catch his breath, pulling his shirt down.

The two of them looked to each other before laughing a bit, though Light noticed there was something darker in L's eyes, "Ryuzaki? What's wrong?"

"Oh... nothing," L replied as though caught off guard by the question, but he still had a faraway look in his eyes, so Light leaned in closer,

"Come on, Ryuzaki, spill," he then phased through the floor and grabbed some cake from the fridge, having to go the long way to come back by going up the stairs, "I'll give you the cake."

Ryuzaki looked towards the cake and then out the window, and Light waved the shortcake in his face, only to get no response.

"Ryuzaki, what is this about? You should be happy. We're going to be done with this case after I do a little stalking of creepy businessmen."

"If you could come back to life, would you?" L blurted, and Light recoiled a bit, seeing the anguish in those pale grey eyes, "If there was a way so you could stay as a normal human being."

Ryuk laughed from where he had been floating in the corner, content to watch this happen. Light cocked his head a bit,

"What are you talking about, Ryuzaki? I'm dead, and there's nothing that can be done about it."

"But there is," L grabbed Light's shoulders, which remained tangible, "Ryuk told me there is, and if I did it, you could come back." Light whirled to face Ryuk,

"Ryuk, is that true?!"

"Yeah," Ryuk shrugged, "I didn't tell you, though, since it hinders the moving on process. Besides, it's not like it would actually work."

"Actually," Light yelped as he felt something touch him, and another Shinigami stood before him, and judging by L's expression, he saw it too, "I think it could work."

"It really is... a Shinigami," L breathed, and Light was struggling to process all of this. There actually truly was a way to go back? But he didn't belong here anymore, so why would he...?

"I am Rem," Rem explained, "The Shinigami of Kira's notebook. Something's gone wrong with life and death. Light Yagami wasn't supposed to die for a long time. It is possible that his lifespan was altered due to the Death Note in the human world, but this change means that the King may listen to a human's plea."

"The King?" Light asked, and Ryuk nodded,

"Yeah, the Old Man who rules over us and created us."

"We just have to ask the King to bring Light-Kun back?" L asked, and Rem shook her head,

"It's been thousands of years since a human was even able to access the Shinigami Realm to talk to him. He believes that if a human can brave the journey there, they deserve to be listened to."

"That's interesting," L had his finger to his lip, "When do we start?"

"Wha—Hold on, Ryuzaki!" Light protested, "What if I don't want to come back?"

L turned to face him, and for a moment, Light forgot which of them was the supernatural entity. There was something about L at that moment—raw power in those eyes. Maybe it was the moonlight reflecting off grey eyes, giving them the illusion of glowing silver. There was a quaver in his voice as he held Light's hands,

"You weren't supposed to die, Light," L said, and Light couldn't tell if it was joy or L was actually on the brink of spiraling into insanity, "We can save you."

...

L saw the fear and confusion in Light's eyes, and that was what snapped him out of the unexpected and alarming emotion that had grabbed hold of him, knowing that Light needed to make the choice. But why wouldn't he?! He'd had a good life before he died—with the exception of confinement—so why wouldn't he want to go back?

Light was quiet for a moment, looking at the floor, his expression unreadable as he slowly looked towards Rem.

"What do we have to do?"

"First," Rem explained, "We have to retrieve my Death Note from Kira."

OoOoO

One week later, L's breath was caught in his throat, seeing Rem now had her notebook back. L himself had held it for a bit, reading the rules and coming to the sickening conclusion that there was truly no way Light could have been Kira due to the 13-day rule.

Light hadn't touched the Death Note. He didn't want anything to do with it, saying it just felt wrong.

But none of that was why L was so uncomfortable right now. Because he was at the foot of a grave labeled "Light Yagami." 

He hadn't told anyone where he was going or when he would be back. He looked up to Rem, "Why do we need to come here?"

"This is how a human can enter the Shinigami Realm. Light Yagami will have to go ahead since his journey will be much faster than yours, Ryuzaki." Light touched his gravestone, then took on a glow that faded alongside him. L reached out for him,

"Light!"

"Don't worry, L Lawliet," Rem assured, "He's simply with the King. However, you will be the one doing the talking." The ground in front of the coffin gave out, revealing stairs leading downwards, "Follow the path, don't give your name to anyone, and don't look any of the Shinigami you come across on your journey in the eye, or they will attempt to rob you of your life."

"Any tips for talking to the King?"

"Unfortunately, I cannot help you there or join you on your quest. Talking to the King is something you must do alone." 

L looked down at the stairs with slight trepidation, before taking a deep breath and heading down the stairs.

...

Rem watched the ground close up the moment L Lawliet was out of sight, and Ryuk cackled,

"This is fun!" He looked to Rem, "All of this and Light still doesn't know the truth of who he used to be. Do you think he's gonna find out." 

"I don't doubt it," Rem replied, "But it doesn't matter what he chooses to do with that information, as long as Misa is happy and taken care of. As long as Light Yagami is alive, there is hope for her."

"You certainly care about her quite a bit," Ryuk said offhandedly, munching on an apple, "If you were willing to face the King's wrath for her sake, be it by saving her or just sending L to him. Who knows how the Old Man'll react to that."

Rem sighed, "I understand L Lawliet's pain. Saving Light Yagami is in both of our interests. All we can do now is wait and see what the King says."

...

L looked around the dark path, having no illumination source besides a battery-powered lantern which he used, but it barely helped except for what was within two feet in front of him. He had to run his hand along the wall of the tunnel to have a real sense for where he was going and not fall down the flight of stairs leading downwards, unable to see anything at the end, and part of him feared this was a trap leading him to his death.

He didn't know how long he spent wandering the seemingly endless tunnel, searching for the Shinigami Realm, but he kept his head down just in case and the hood of his coat up.

What he did notice, however, was that the longer he went, the less tired he became, and any traces of hunger or thirst began to fade away too. Almost as though he didn't need such things, the further he wandered into this realm.

Eventually, he saw the dim shine a small distance away from the bottom of the stairs, and he picked up the pace a bit, looking around the area at his surroundings.

The wasteland was so desolate and dead that L was taken aback, not sure what he had been expecting but knowing this wasn't exactly it. He could just barely see the faintest outline of a path.

His attention was caught by the sound of inhumane laughter, which, while he showed no reaction to it, sent a slight shiver up his spine as he thought about Light, who wasn't supposed to have died. This was the only chance he had to right this wrong and get his friend and equal back without the looming threat of moving on over his head.

An adventure into the Shinigami Realm to find the King and convince him to bring Light back from the dead. It sounded insane, and L wasn't going to even pretend that wasn't the case. Still, it was nothing if not interesting.

Hearing that laughter again and interpreting it as saying he should just get walking already, he hurried along the path. 


	7. Chapter 7

When he had been told to travel into the Shinigami Realm, L wasn't sure what he had imagined, or been meant to imagine. Seeing what Rem had told him about Shinigami having evolved to not actually need sustenance, he should have guessed the realm was something like this. However, he had expected more of a cliché underworld like in Greek mythology.

What the Shinigami Realm actually was could be best described as dead. He found it interesting that the clouds were not very far from the ground, maybe a mile up at most, which was highly abnormal on Earth. He honestly hadn't expected to see any sign of the sky on his journey. The air was also extremely chilly. He regretted not bringing anything more than a lightweight jacket to protect himself as he shivered, albeit he was fully aware that like his stamina and need for sustenance here, or lack thereof, he may be protected from the brunt of these factors. 

The information that he gathered implied that while he had traveled underground to get here, he had somehow traveled upwards? It didn't make any sense, but he was also handling Death Gods on a mission to revive his friend from the dead, so he supposed it didn't really have to.

Though perhaps that was why everything was so dark and lifeless around here, that it had all just frozen to death. Maybe this realm was once more than the landscape he saw before him. But as he continued his travels, he saw the occasional tree, only it was covered in cobwebs or buildings that had crumbled. These were things that couldn't have happened from cold. What had gone down there to turn this place into an upside-down Earth, basically.

He looked around a little more, needing to check occasionally to ensure he hadn't gone off the path accidentally. He noticed strange objects scattered about from time to time, and he saw concentric orbs floating for seemingly no reason whatsoever. This time, there was a Shinigami sitting and writing in its notebook at the foot of it, so he kept his food covering his face and looked down to avoid his face and name being seen.

L wondered what Light was doing right now if he was already there. The idea of anything bad having befallen him left a sick feeling in L's stomach as he continued to travel along the path. This was probably the most walking he had done in the last sixteen years, and Watari probably wouldn't even believe him about the distance.

Well, it could just feel like forever because he was walking across seemingly endless terrain and trying to get to a set destination as soon as humanely possible. He looked up and saw a Shinigami, possibly Rem, soaring above, and he figured this trip was faster by flying. Alas, there was a reason the Shinigami King would only listen to a human who braved the journey alone.

The longer he walked, the area changed. Off to one side was a single mountain, and following the path was a much larger mountain range, with a center one with a cave slightly towards the center, large enough that he could spot it from here. The path had become much clearer in that direction, with hundreds of chains creating an outline. L broke into a sprint now that he knew where he was going, seeing the chains getting even more frequent at the entrance of what he assumed was the Shinigami King's domain.

"Hello?" He called, wondering if he had to get the King's attention somehow, waiting towards the entrance for being permitted to enter, unsure what Shinigami considered as a courtesy. "Are you the Shinigami King? I came to talk to you."

Under his feet, the scenery changed from a cave to a strange place with only open blue sky and water below, which he was standing on. No land masses anywhere, just seemingly endless wide open space in every direction. And he noticed the water below him was still rippling below his feet, and when he moved them, made sounds as though he was walking in a puddle, but his feet were not wet at all.

"L Lawliet," L whirled and saw a peculiar creature standing before him, small and child-like in appearance, dressed in regal clothing with a hood. His head consists of a skull with large horns. This being's eyes were black as though the universe was trapped within them, and there were fittingly three star-like markings on the being's face. He found himself stunned by the power radiating from something so small, and there was an aura that made it very clear this was a _chosen_ form for the sake of a human's abilities of comprehension or maybe to not scare him senseless... which was both patronizing and oddly kind.

Normally, he would be unsure if this was the King or a secretary, but it was extremely obvious what this being was, so he bowed respectfully, "Your Majesty."

"It's been a long time since a human came to me looking for favors. You're here about Light Yagami."

Alright then, straight to the point. That was very reassuring because if there was one thing he failed at more than anything, it was either basic ethics or small talk. 

"Yes, I am. I was informed that due to the Death Note's influence on the human world, Light's lifespan was altered from what it initially was."

"And you want me to return him to life so he can live out the rest of that lifespan he initially had?"

"Yes."

There was silence between them for a moment, before the Shinigami King asked, "Why should I do that?"

L dug into his bag, pulled out a sealed glass container full of apples, and he offered it to the King, bending on one knee in hopes of showing respect, deciding that since they were having a human conversation, he may as well go about human customs.

The Shinigami King examined the apples, a shadow of a smile on his face, before looking up, "I am the King of Death. Bringing a human back from the dead is not typically done unless in specific circumstances. While I am listening, L Lawliet, due to your offering, why should I make an exception for you when both you and he die in a few decades?"

"Whatever the price is, I am willing to pay it," L replied without thinking, and while there was a sense of dread upon saying it, he realized there were very few things he wouldn't pay to see his mistake undone and Light returned to the human world.

"Is he that important to you?"

"Yes, more than anything."

The Shinigami King seemed to contemplate this, and the seconds felt like years as L waited for the answer. And then his Majesty looked up from the waters they stood on and said one word:

"Okay."

Relief swept through L's body, but he managed to keep calm, even if he was weak in the knees, "Thank you, your majesty."

"Now hold on," L's eyes widened slightly as the Shinigami King smirked, "I haven't named my price."

"What is your price?"

"I was fond of Kira," The King explained, "And rather miffed with you killing him. Because of this, I hadn't been planning to do what you asked. But you surprised me with your request, not with immortality like every other human who has braved the journey to see me, but with simply wanting to spend your remaining years with the one you love." Love?! That as a strong word for just wanting to undo a mistake and have a friend back, "However, I need to ensure you are willing to pay the price I have for you, so there will be a test before you return to the human world, one of trust." 

He stepped back, revealing that under him, Light lay sleeping beneath the surface in the water, submerged with no signs of awareness at all. L heard a surprised shout of "Light?!" escape his lips, and the King watched his expressions.

"You will leave here and walk back to the human world. When you are a short distance away, I will release Light from here, and he will follow you, but you will not be able to hear him. You have to trust both he and I because if you turn around to check if he's there, he will be forced to move on."

"So like Orpheus and Eurydice in Greek mythology?"

"Correct. Except there is one extra rule: Light does not have to follow you. He can hear the price you both will pay, and he can choose for himself whether to return to life is worth it."

"The price both of us pay? I thought this was something I alone would give you."

"Not in this case," the Shinigami King replied, a Death Note appearing in his hands, "The price Light shall pay is to become Kira. If he fails to write names within thirteen days, he will return to a spirit and move on. And for you, the price is your reputation, to let Kira roam free and go against what you told the humans. That is the reason for my test—to see if it is worth anything and if you are both willing to follow these terms."

"Why would you care to see Kira restored to power?"

"It reduces murders, leaving more humans for the Shinigami to kill. They've grown lazy since humans themselves keep making all the kills, and perhaps this realm can become something again if the number of murders is reduced."

"I see," L nodded, knowing that as solving cases was his hobby, losing credibility would make things harder. However, he also knew that would be a temporary setback in the grand scheme of things, and Interpol would be calling for him again soon. "I accept your terms."

But would Light? Could he blame Light if he refused to become the thing that had indirectly gotten him killed and had been the main reason he couldn't move on?

The terrain changed back to the dark cave, and L gasped quietly to see those two eyes looking down at him, hidden mostly in the shadows but clearly much more terrifying. He didn't let any of the momentary fright be shown on his face as he bowed and then left, only able to hope that Light would follow.

...

Contrary to having seemed asleep, Light had been able to hear everything. It had been so peaceful as he waited for L to arrive, and he knew this was the feeling of moving on. Everything was right in the world, and the concept of never returning home hadn't been so scary. And then he heard L's voice, which cut through the emptiness of his mind, and he listened to the deal being made.

And now he was standing in that cave, fully tangible, able to put his two feet on the ground, and saw he was in the same clothes he had died in just like when he was a ghost. The Shinigami King said nothing at all, and Light knew he knew the King had heard everything, and now it was time for him to make a choice.

To become Kira and become the thing he had sworn to destroy, but be alive for as long as he continued to write names, be that immortality or just until the end of a predetermined lifespan, he didn't know. Or move on here and now, the thing he had wanted to do but was long before he was originally supposed to.

He had his face in his hands as he tried to think about which choice to make, turning towards the entrance, where he could still easily catch up with L by simply walking. Something about the fact L was willing to sacrifice so much for someone else's sake brought butterflies to Light's stomach, a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time.

But... could he fulfill his own end of the bargain?

The image of his death flashed in his mind again, that gun at his head, and his father's words to him, _"Light, my son, from one murderer to another, I'll see you in hell!"_ Did he want to become that thing he had died for being accused of?

Still, in turmoil about what choice to make, he saw the Death Note at his feet, sitting there and waiting for him to use it.

Curiosity about the book's contents getting the better of him, he reached to pick it up.


	8. Chapter 8

If the journey between the cave and the staircase had been long before, L found he didn't know anymore, as he looked at the ground and shivered, seeing the occasional Shinigami watching what was happening, seemly with no interest in killing L like Rem had warned. Was he being protected by the King, or was the test amusing to them, and they wanted to see how this went.

He knew how the story went and knew that no matter what, no matter his concerns, or if he believed they had made it, he could not turn around. Every now and then, he would force himself to stop in his tracks, so Light could catch up...

If he was even there.

He tried not to think about it, but with the Shinigami King implying that he could very well by lying about this test, and there was the option for Light to stay behind if he didn't wish to pay the price, doubt was beginning to creep in, and all L would wonder was, "Where are you?" 

The next time he stopped in his tracks, he realized with increasing dread that aside from the occasional snicker from the Shinigami nearby, all had fallen silent in this realm, making it all too clear that he could not hear any footsteps from behind him. It was as though nobody was there.

Of course he couldn't. This was a test for L, so why would it be so easy as simply hearing someone behind him. Still, with the laughter from Shinigami, he couldn't help but wonder if there was nobody behind him, and he looked like a fool.

The air was getting increasingly chillier, and he shivered again, but whether it was from cold or the doubt building up and slowly driving him mad as every 'what if' possibility raced through his mind, L didn't know.

He hummed softly as he walked to distract himself from the unnerving quiet and tried to bring himself peace of mind by thinking about his little brothers, but then he tensed a bit as he remembered what he had told them about capturing Kira.

Well... technically, he had done that. He had captured and executed Higuchi, after all, and they didn't need to know he would end up letting Light run free if he agreed to these terms. It was understandable that he had to give up upon learning that it was all a supernatural wild goose chase.

He did worry about the reactions of everyone, but did it matter what they thought? He could take Light and run if he had to.

What...What was he thinking? He was only doing this to reverse his mistake, and if he were to basically abduct Light to keep him safe, that would be going against the whole point of this.

He saw stairs heading down again, and he gave up any sense of where this place was and decided to chalk it up to reality distortion. With a deep breath, he grabbed his lantern and began walking down, trying his best not to stumble as his body started shaking.

He focused on the path before him, regardless of his fears that perhaps the stairs only appeared for a few moments, and what if he was going too fast and just abandoned Light in the Shinigami Realm?

He decided to count doubles to avoid thinking too much, until finally, at some point, he was somehow walking upwards, up and out of the grave, but he didn't look behind him. He had just gotten up, so Light would need some time to get up there, but if he stayed too close, could Light get back up?

He decided to walk out of the cemetery and keep going. He couldn't risk it. But at what point would he be able to hear Light?

He found he didn't need to wait long when he felt a cold hand gripping his, "L, I'm here."

"Can I turn around?"

"Yes, you can turn around."

L turned around and met Light's eyes, and he instantly noticed that Light no longer looked like a spirit. He was very dirty and dressed in the same clothing he had been buried in. His skin was pale, but L's face lit up when he realized it wasn't dead-pale, just as though he hadn't seen the sun for a while. Relief washed over him as he realized Light really had followed him all the way. L hadn't turned around. They had made it.

"You..." he held Light's hand up and touched it, feeling a human hand, solid and a pulse felt underneath his wrist, "You're alive." He looked up, "How do you feel?"

"Cold," Light replied, and only then did L notice it was raining, leaving them both soaked. But in Light's hands was the Death Note that seemed to be unharmed by the storm that was getting stronger, and he looked down at it with a blank expression.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Light replied quietly, "How are we going to tell everyone?"

"I don't know," L replied, taking Light's hand, "You're alive, Light-Kun. We should probably get inside and warm up."

Light nodded, "Yeah, that sounds good."

...

He remembered everything.

Light cursed himself in hindsight for all the things he hadn't taken into account, such as a mock execution like that or the fact he had a high chance of being genetically predisposed to stress-induced heart attacks.

But this was fine, he supposed. Not only had he been proven innocent, but now he could be Kira freely, and L wouldn't stop him—maybe even become his ally. Even though there was a hiccup in his plan, it worked overall, even better than expected.

As L guided him back to headquarters since Light didn't know how to get there on foot—and speaking of which, his feet really hurt right now from lack of use—Light looked to the stormy sky and saw Ryuk flying above.

He had won, and now he could become God of the New World. This would be far too easy with L by his side.

So why did he not feel smug about this? He was getting everything he had wanted! Was it because L had been the one to ensure his victory instead of him? Or the fact he would have to see the disappointment in his father's eyes as he learned the only way for Light to stay alive was to write at least one name every thirteen days.

Either way, something didn't feel right about this, and Light wasn't sure how to feel.


	9. Chapter 9

The walk back to headquarters was calm and he could almost call it relaxing if not for the winds and torrential downpour, just holding Light's hand and leading him along, back home where it would be safe, guiding his way. Perhaps that should have been L's first clue that everything else would not remain at ease.

From what L had seen in the months of knowing them, Aizawa and Matsuda didn't agree on much. But it turned out that Light coming back from the dead had both of their thought processes matching up, being something along the lines of "oh hell no!"

Surprisingly, Light wasn't phased whatsoever by two police officers looking one bad move away from pulling out their guns—if they had them in headquarters, and L was sure they didn't at the moment—and shooting the shit out of him. Mogi had the air of a man who had just found out his whole life was a lie. Watari had dropped the tray of food and seemed to be in shock.

"Explain!" Aizawa demanded, and L blinked,

"Explain what?"

Matsuda seemed on the brink of a mental breakdown, and he waved his arms wildly in Light's direction, "This! Look, Ryuzaki, ghosts? Fine. Robbing innocent of basic human rights? Please don't. But _zombies_ is where I draw the line." 

Light leaned against the wall nonchalantly, as though he had expected this to happen. But for L, something about Light being called a zombie was so infuriating he wanted to throw Matsuda in a cell for even suggesting such a thing. However, at the same time, it sparked panic because, all things considered, there was a chance Matsuda was right. Of course, the term zombie probably wasn't right. At best, it would be a ghoul, meaning he has thinking abilities and can make choices of his own, is summoned by black magic, but even then, Light didn't seem to have any desire to eat the flesh of the deceased... yet. 

Now that he thought about it, there was a chance Light was a ghoul, and that thought was horrifying. And that was quite the thought.

"I'm not a zombie," Light said bitterly from where he was leaning against the wall casually, "And can you please not have a look like you're about to shoot me? I died once with a gun in my face, and while I know I can't _die_ from that again, I would rather not experience it."

Aizawa hesitantly walked over and grabbed Light's wrist, and it took L a moment to realize he was checking for a pulse, and then took a step back.

"You don't have a pulse!" That caught L off guard because Light certainly had had a pulse about twenty minutes ago. He checked and found that, sure enough, Light's pulse was gone. He probably needed to write a name to maintain his life, meaning he had to write the first name quickly.

"I haven't fulfilled my end of the bargain yet," Light snapped, "Of course I don't have a pulse. And just because I'm not a zombie or anything that will eat your flesh, that doesn't mean I'm human."

That had L turning too, "You're not?"

"Scratch that," Mogi stood up, "What bargain?"

Everyone looked to L for answers, and L rubbed the back of his neck, speaking fast in hopes of them not hearing the terms, "I made a deal with the Shinigami King that he would bring Light back in exchange for Light becoming Kira and I do nothing about that. If he doesn't write a name every thirteen days, he moves on."

He shouldn't have been surprised that everyone was looking at him as though he was insane. But what did catch him off guard was an expression on everyone's faces as though everything made sense now.

"Can I go?" Light asked, "I would like to go get my pulse back and maybe a shower." He gestured down to his dirty clothes and the fact he was soaked to the bone from the storm outside.

"Go ahead, Light," Watari said, and Light went up the stairs, only to fall over and laugh awkwardly,

"Sorry, I'm not adjusted to needing to walk." He fumbled a bit but eventually got the hang of walking up the stairs, holding the railing in a death grip.

When he was gone, it was to the surprise of nobody that Aizawa was the first to start shouting, "You're throwing away everything we have done and sacrificed because you're in love with Light?!"

"Are you upset Light-Kun is back?" L asked innocently, but Aizawa saw right through that, getting in L's personal space and pointing an accusatory finger at him,

"Don't spin this on me! We're all glad he's back, but this price—you've thrown the whole world under the bus for a man, and _that_ is the truth of what's happening."

"Alright, that does sound pretty terrible when you put it like that," L admitted, "But it can't be that bad if we play our cards right."

Aizawa threw his hands up in exasperation, turning away, "I can't even with you. For the world's smartest person, you make some of the dumbest choices I have ever seen." L was about to argue with that, but seeing as it was his mistakes that landed them in this situation to begin with, he shut his mouth.

"Well, what's done is done. You will have been paid for your services, but you can return to police work. I will come up with a report for Interpol explaining that from what we have learned, Kira's power spreads, creating more of those with that power, and the act of catching them all is nigh impossible."

"And how are you going to explain away the fact Light's been dead for months?" Mogi asked skeptically, and L shrugged,

"He was announced brain dead but was actually comatose and woke up in the coffin. It's unlikely, but there have been old stories like that, and people will believe anything sometimes."

Matsuda ran his hands through his hair, "I'll give you the benefit of the doubt, but if he starts acting like something out of a horror movie, I'm bringing my gun."

"Would that even work?" Aizawa asked, "Ryuzaki made a deal with what I gather is the King of Death."

"A cross and a bible then," Matsuda suggested.

Tired of this, L headed upstairs to grab his phone to call the Chief about what had happened since the task force collectively forced him to go home to his family instead of wallowing in the hotel. Surely, at least he would be happy about this.

It would just take some adjusting for them, L supposed, and admittedly Aizawa had a point. Even if he hadn't wanted to think about the possibility of being in love with Light, it was being thrown in his face, and while he was still going to deny it as long as he could, there was this lingering part of him that was sure it was true.

And with that, it truly sunk in that it worked, like actually worked. He traveled to another realm to bring Light back and succeeded.

He didn't know what he would do with all of this information, so he decided to go about it in perfect, stoic silence. Whether that was working, he had no idea, but liked to think he was keeping it together.

He was startled when he felt a hand on his shoulder and saw Watari behind him, and L pulled away a bit, "Are you going to tell me I've done something stupid too? I already know what this will do for my reputation."

"I'm not saying that," Watari said, "But I do think you should have thought this through. Light was dead and is back now. Just because you're ready for it doesn't mean others are too. It would be shocking enough even if there weren't some serious strings attached. People will be _dying_ for him to maintain his life, Lawliet. Do you honestly think everyone will accept that and move along?"

As always, Watari had a point. "I can take him to the house, where nobody will find him. Nobody outside of the task force and Light's family has to know he's alive."

"But you brought him back for everyone, not just yourself, correct?"

L tensed. If he took Light and ran, it would defeat the entire purpose he had justified for himself in bringing Light back in the first place. Of course, if nobody else wanted to have him around and thought he was a monster, wasn't it right for him to bring Light to safety out of the goodness of his heart?

Of course, there was still the possibility they would come around. It would have been far more convenient if the task force was all idiots, and he wouldn't have had to tell them about the price at all. Alas, as often as they all gave that title to Matsuda, none of them were dumb enough to not see a connection between the resurrection of Light and at least no progress on the case, and more likely dropping it altogether. They were going to find out eventually, so he might as well be upfront about it.

How would Light feel about it if they truly didn't come around? He knew how much Light had wanted to move on, and it had taken convincing for him to be on board for this whole resurrection plan. But Light had followed him, even after hearing about the price, right? That had to mean something.

A sinking thought made itself known, that what if Light was only doing this as a trial run and wouldn't write a name when he wanted to move on. And an irrational part of L was pissed off by that idea because he had traveled realms and done anything he could to bring him back, only for Light to only be testing the waters.

But that was just speculation, right? Everything would be okay. He just had to have some patience.

...

Light looked at himself in the mirror, watching before his eyes as his body had become as though he was freshly dead, and he was beginning to take a pale glow. Some primal part of him somehow knew that meant he had about five minutes to write a name before he faded into whatever afterlife there was if there was one.

He wasn't sure whether it was unsettling or almost euphoric to be able to take out the Death Note in L's headquarters and write a name like it was second nature, and leave the thing sitting on the desk. But what he knew for sure was offputting was that via the mirror, Light watched as his body returned to as it had before his confinement and death. He was still soaked and dirty, but his skin was rosy and healthy, and now that he was gently touching it, a lot softer than before, almost like he had...

 _Oh._ Seeing how much his body had decayed quite a bit before being restored, he probably had needed new skin, so he most likely did have the equivalent of baby skin. That was going to haunt him now.

Ryuk was behind him, laughing, "Glad to be back, Light-o?"

Just to be sure, he checked and found he had a pulse, "So I have thirteen days before I start looking like a corpse again? If I were to stop writing, would my decayed flesh be hanging around?"

"Nah, you would just disappear as though you moved on," Ryuk explained, "Old Man said he wrote it down in your notebook."

Light picked up the notebook and noticed that in the back, there were indeed new rules. From what he gathered, the process of decay was going to be consistent. To maintain his image and health, he would need to write at least one name daily, and he would progressively become more sickly and dead-like as the thirteen days passed before finally moving on. 

"That's one way to motivate me into not procrastinating," he muttered, grabbing some dry pajamas and walking into the bathroom for a shower and warm water.

Alright, so being technically undead was going to take some getting used to. Light had been so used to not needing basic survival requirements or preferences that it was jarring. He wouldn't have thought such a change would be difficult.

By the time he entered the bedroom, he found he was still alone, and the news was still playing. He laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling as he considered everything.

Even if the task force was uneasy about him being resurrected, he had won, right? Did the details really matter? This was more than anything he had dared to hope for. If he wasn't human, he could even kill Misa, and Rem wouldn't be able to do a thing about it. Just the thought made him cringe as he realized that being somewhat alive meant he would need to deal with her.

Because of this deal, he was nigh untouchable. According to the rules, he was something between human and Shinigami. He could be shot or stabbed and not die.

So why? Why did he just feel so empty because of it? Was it because of how uncomfortable the task force was about this? That was to be expected, and he had seen it coming, and he couldn't exactly argue with being called a zombie unless to bring up technicalities.

No... was this what a hollow victory felt like? He had won, but it didn't feel like he had thought it would. It was almost as though he had lost. His new world was his for the taking, and yet he still felt like the loser.

Well, he was the loser. Even if the detective didn't know it, L had won and had gone back and undone everything and altered the victory. That should mean the game was back on if L wasn't aware of what he had done. But Light couldn't even have that because L was well aware of the price and was happy to pay it.

There was no pride in this win. Light couldn't even say he had manipulated L into bringing him back because he hadn't wanted to come back, and if he hadn't gotten his memories back, he probably wouldn't have followed at all.

He would see what the future brought. If he was really unsatisfied, he could easily not write another name and just move on like he had wanted. Even if the task force was uncomfortable, he didn't know what his family would think about this. He wanted to believe at least Dad would be on board with this, but he knew better than to get his hopes up.

The image of his father pressing a gun to his head flashed behind his eyes, and he didn't even want to think about what would happen when the price became known.

For now, he decided to at least try to have the first genuine sleep he had had in a long time, and at least that felt nice.


	10. Chapter 10

When Light woke up in the morning, he was relieved to find he still looked like a living being. Just to be sure before even considering leaving his room, he checked the mirror and stripped, making sure there was nowhere with sudden decay. 

It took about ten minutes, but once he was satisfied, he changed into some normal clothes, relieved to change clothes for the first time in months. He had been stuck in the same clothes he died in, and whether he was capable of changing his own clothes was not something he had figured out.

He checked the clock. _Alright, so I have at least twelve hours safe from decaying._ Regardless, not knowing exactly when he would start, even if it just made him look increasingly ill until he disappeared, was deeply unsettling.

Today was the day they would be telling his father about the deal... he grimaced. Dad would be happy he was back even with the contract that made it happen, right? He wouldn't be like the others, who were mostly just disturbed by his presence regardless. Surely at least his own parent would accept this.

Well, if he didn't, that was one more thing in favor of not writing any names and moving on. All he would need this new body for was to gain closure about his death.

His stomach growled loudly, and Light checked the rules of the notebook again. He didn't _need_ food or water, but it was certainly a preference. So it meant he could well and truly lock himself in here if he so desired.

Not that it mattered now, because he did want to eat. He headed downstairs into the kitchen, with nobody but Ryuk for company. It seemed the Shinigami was searching for apples.

"Morning, Light-o!"

"Morning," Light muttered, grabbed a pop tart from the cabinet. Normally he wouldn't eat that, but he was technically dead, so did it matter? He sat at the counter, not even bothering to toast the American treat.

If he was going to create his new world, the first thing he had to do was make sure Misa wasn't going to be a problem. It was only a matter of time before she found out about him anyway. Though he supposed that even if Rem couldn't kill him for it, he wasn't going to hurt her unnecessarily, so until he decided if he wanted to be here to not, he would avoid Misa and make sure the others kept the secret.

When he finished his minimal breakfast, Light headed downstairs, tossing Ryuk an apple as he went. Would Dad be down there? Anxiety bubbled up as he thought about every possible outcome, and even if he knew better from seeing how devastated Dad had been about his death, he still feared he would walk down there and have a gun in his face again.

Just to be sure, he checked his pulse. Still healthy and alive. He also checked his temperature. A little on the colder side at 36.4C instead of the normal 37C, but hopefully, nobody would notice.

Taking a deep breath, he headed downstairs, seeing L was there, but the rest of the task force was not, "Where is everybody?"

L looked up, "Oh, hello, Light-Kun. The case is over, and I have plans to resign from the investigation once you begin using the Death Note more frequently, so why would they have to be here? I have called Yagami-san here to see you are alive."

"Matsuda is probably going to have told him."

"I know," L replied simply, "But as long as he accepts that you are back, does it matter?"

Light slumped, "I suppose you're right." He sat down next to L, "My spirit guide is still here, by the way, so if things start floating, that's not me this time."

"Alright." L stared blankly at his screen, and Light frowned,

"Ryuzaki, are you okay?" Light didn't know what came over him, but he almost wanted to confess to being the original Kira, just to see what would happen. L had brought him back, and Light couldn't be killed unless by his own hand not writing in the Death Note... well, he supposed someone could take the notebook from him, but he was still debating whether to write more names in it as it was.

And besides, would L even do that? He had done so much to bring Light back from the dead, traveling realms and making a deal with the Shinigami King. Light found he had forgiven L for his death long before that in seeing the regret and the willingness to help him move on before resurrection was even an option.

Part of him wished things could be different, that he could have come back without his memories of being the original Kira, so he could see what L had done as something kind and not the biggest mistake of L's life. But life wasn't that easy, now was it?

He was brought from his depressing musings when he heard the elevator door open with that usual pleasant chiming, and he heard Dad's voice, "Ryuzaki, you wished to see—"

...

Soichiro was stopped in his tracks, his body completely frozen and words unable to leave his mouth, when he saw who was sitting next to Ryuzaki at the desk. This was impossible, or just a cruel joke, right? There was—there was no way, right?!

He remembered going to work today since Light's advice as a spirit was for him to take his job back and put their family back together. The rest of the task force had been there, and he had heard Aizawa and Ide in the storage closet, talking about something—or rather, Ide calming down Aizawa, who was getting increasingly frustrated. He hadn't wanted to pry into the matters of those two since it wasn't necessarily his business. But one thing he had heard was mention of Ryuzaki making a deal.

He hadn't thought much of the idea of Ryuzaki making a deal until now, seeing Light sitting next to the detective. He watched this person in his son's skin for a moment. Breathing. Alive. It couldn't be possible that Light was somehow alive again. He had been a _ghost_ yesterday!

"Hi, Dad," Light, or the person pretending to be Light, stood up and walked towards him. Soichiro took in every microexpression and the smallest of details to figure out if somehow his son really had come back to him.

Without thinking, he cupped Light's cheek, startled by the change in skin. No... something wasn't right here. This couldn't be a pretender, but it was almost like Light had gotten new skin altogether. But he didn't recoil. Whatever had happened, looking into those eyes he had only ever seen on his eldest child, he knew that somehow this was Light.

Ryuzaki came over, "I brought him back last night. The rest of the task force is less than thrilled about it since they're concerned about zombies."

"How?" Was the only word he could get out, pulling Light close. He didn't even care how it had happened, feeling a warm body against him instead of a spirit. Light hugged back, burying his face in his shoulder.

"Ryuzaki made a deal," Light explained quietly, "With the Shinigami King. I can come back if..."

"If?" That expression on Light's face as he looked up at him made his stomach sink with dread, knowing that whatever this was, it wasn't going to be good.

"If I become Kira, I'm sorry, Dad," Light said quickly as they both sat on the couch, "I have to write a name every thirteen days, or I die again and move on, but I gradually decay every day without writing."

And suddenly, the thing that seemed too good to be true revealed the price. Soichiro felt like he had been slapped. He had accidentally killed his son to prove Light wasn't Kira, but now the only way for him to live was to become Kira. It was poetic in a twisted way, he supposed, but even the idea of Light being forced to do this...

He noticed Light was looking ready for the rejection, and Soichiro truly didn't know what to do. If he didn't let this happen, he would lose Light forever, and in no way was he ready to let go of his child when he had a shot at having Light back.

But on the flip side, to let Light become Kira meant to be culpable for every murder that Light was forced to commit to stay alive. What if the power began to change him until it wasn't even Light anymore? Perhaps he could act as a hand to hold to prevent Light from going too far or giving him a list of Death Row inmates to kill, or just make the execution have a guarantee of going smoothly.

"I know you probably don't want me to do this," Light muttered, "It would probably be better if I don't write any names and just die again."

"No, no," he assured him, "I... I don't like this—not at all. But we'll find a way to make this work, okay?"

Even as he said that he felt sick. Sure, he had been changing his stance on murderers lately, even if there had been a chance Light was Kira. But the power to kill was pure evil, and now he was enabling Light to do this? It didn't feel right; he felt like a hypocrite. 

But it wasn't Light's fault he had ended up like this, and maybe he could justify it as like people killing animals for food and survival, so Light was kind of doing the same? It didn't really make sense, but he couldn't turn his back on Light again when he needed him most, and that was the most important thing right now.

...

L watched the reunion between father and son, grateful everything was going well. The chief's love of his son was overpowering any negative feelings about the deal that had been made. So this hadn't been done for just L's sake. At least he could make that point to Watari now—that no, this hadn't been because some feelings for Light added onto his guilt.

But something didn't sit right with him about the way that Light had been talking. He couldn't pinpoint what exactly it was, but he almost seemed to have been manipulating his father in a way. Sure, L had wanted the chief to be fine with this, but something about how Light had been talking struck him as odd. 

Maybe he was thinking too much into this, but for the first time since Light's death, he almost wondered if Light truly had been hiding something from him. But he shook that thought off as ridiculous. Maybe he was paranoid, or Light simply hadn't wanted to be turned away by his father like he had with the task force.

It didn't matter right now because seeing a family reunited was enough for him to know he made the right choice.


End file.
